receptivus

Forms

receptīvus (feminine receptīva, neuter receptīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin recipiō (“to receive”) + -īvus,^[1][3] on the stem of its past participle, ⟨recept-⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's only witness is Priscianus Lydus' Solutiones, where the soul is said to be receptive of contraries, of justice and intemperance in turn, and bodies to receive health and sickness;^[1] Köbler dates its first source to the 6th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In scholastic philosophy, in Thomas Aquinas, it is a synonym of passivus² and susceptivus and the opposite of activus: the intellect is receptivus specierum sine materia, receptive of forms without their matter.^[5] Medieval British Latin used it for what is able to receive, contrasted with active, effective or elective powers, often with a genitive;^[4] Roger Bacon writes of a receptive potency in 1267.^[4]

English took receptive in the early 15th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 6th century AD – Priscianus Lydus calls the soul receptive of contraries.^[1][2]
• 1265–1273 – Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa, calls the intellect receptive of forms.^[5][2]
• 1267 – Roger Bacon speaks of a receptive potency.^[4]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as receptive.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to receive, receptive (of something, with a genitive).^[1][2][4]
2. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) Passive, receptive as opposed to active.^[5][4]

Related words

• English receptive

References

1. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh